Product Description
The UK's Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) was an innovative and controversial attempt to regulate the investigation of crime. Two decades on, it now operates in a very different context than in the mid-1980s. While legal advice has become established as a basic right of those arrested and detained by the police, the police service has become both increasingly professionalized but also increasingly driven by government objectives and targets. The Crown Prosecution Service, originally established to separate prosecution from investigation, is now becoming involved in the investigative process with the power to make charge decisions. Although the basic structure of PACE has survived, almost continual revision and amendment has resulted in a markedly different creature than that which was originally enacted. Further changes are imminent as the UK government has embarked on a further review of PACE, promising to re-focus the investigation and evidence gathering processes to deli
About the Author
Richard Young is co-author of Criminal Justice (3rd edn, OUP, 2007), and has conducted research into various aspects of the criminal process, including legal aid decision-making, restorative justice and police complaints. Ed Cape is author of Defending Suspects at Police Stations (5th edn, LAG, 2006), and recent research includes an evaluation of the Public Defender Service in England and Wales, and effective criminal defence in Europe.